Regardless of how much time you spend on the internet, data privacy and protection is a major concern. That's because no matter what you're doing online, there's always a theft or hacker lurking in the background with malicious intent. While you might think that it's a company or websites job to protect your personal information, the best way for you to defend your data is by taking preventative action. Continue reading to find out how to protect your data in just a few simple steps.

Cloud Access Security Broker

A cloud access security broker, also called casb solutions, is a tool or software program designed to monitor network traffic from on-site devices and the cloud. By monitoring the traffic, it ensures that the cloud provider follows an organization's security policies, and it can detect high-risk or unauthorized users. In addition, this software also offers many other beneficial protection features such as application firewalls to prevent thwart malware in the application process, data loss prevention, and firewalls to thwart malware at a networking level.

Furthermore, when you invest in this type of software, it can enforce any of the many security access controls built-in to the program like data encryption, credential mapping, authentication checks, and device profiling. In all, with a casb software you get many of the latest data protection tools to keep your personal information more personal.

Be Smart About Your Passwords

Another one of the biggest steps to protecting your data online is by being proactive about your passwords. The first step to being proactive about your passwords involves using a password manager. A password manager helps you create a stronger password for all of your accounts and devices. This password manager also helps you create a password that's difficult for a hacker to guess as it uses no identifying information.

In addition to using a password manager, there's other steps you can take to further protect your data with your password. For example, never use the same password for multiple accounts. Also, you should never share your password with other people, not even your friends or family. 

Finally, it's important that you don't write your passwords down on a piece of paper or in a notebook. If you lost the item you wrote your passwords on, it could fall into the wrong hands.

Always Use A VPN

A VPN, also known as a virtual private network, keeps your internet browsing private. When you use a VPN, no one with access to your router can get access to your personal information and it cannot be accessed by your ISP. Having a VPN is extremely important if you're using free wi-fi or hotspots because it's very easy for anyone to get access to your data on unsecured connections like these.

Privacy Settings

Every single app you download or that's pre-installed on your device has a privacy setting section. In this section you can choose the least amount of data sharing available to help protect your information. In addition, all apps and websites have information about their privacy policies. It's important to read these policies to know exactly how your information is protected and shared.

Unused Accounts

If you look at all the accounts you've created since you started using the internet, you'd find the amount of accounts you have open astonishing. Like most people, you probably don't use half of those accounts. It's important to delete them instead of letting them sit open. These accounts atoll contain your personal information, and could leak this information if a hacker breaks through.

While there's nothing you can do to prevent or stop a data breach from happening, there's plenty of things you can do to protect your data. The more precautions you take with your personal information the better off you'll be if someone does gain access to one or multiple accounts you own.